What is Facilities Management?

Facilities management is the maintenance of an organisations building and equipment. The International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) describe it as “a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality, comfort, saf ...

Facilities management is the maintenance of an organisations building and equipment. The International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) describe it as “a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality, comfort, safety and efficiency of the built environment” so put simply imagine your facility – the building itself and everything inside as a single entity. Facilities management is responsible for ensuring everything in this entity works harmoniously together.

A facility is described as a place, amenity or piece of equipment provided for a particular purpose. This means anything from warehouses and offices to schools, prisons and retail establishments. Each of these facilities have a complex combination of people, equipment, software and departments that need co-ordinating in order to run smoothly.

So, what exactly does facilities management involve?

Planned and Reactive Maintenance

Running a large company is time consuming and it will often seem easier to just react to a problem as it arises. Planned maintenance is all about prevention. Only reacting when a problem comes up can be a costly way to manage multiple buildings, people and technologies. Making sure everything is serviced, cleaned and regularly checked can save you the heartache of a massive bill whilst potentially interrupting the day-to-day proceedings of your company.

Planned maintenance includes the general maintenance that when not complete can make your facilities feel a little drab. Sometimes a building just needs some TLC – a new coat of paint, a deep clean and any cracks filled in can make a huge difference to your stakeholders’ moods. Also included in planned maintenance is things like; roofing checks – which can help avoid the extra cost and damages that come with leaks from the winter, air conditioning servicing and pest control.

Whilst it’s best to have planned maintenance in place we know that you can’t always avoid maintenance issues. That’s why it’s good to have a reactive maintenance plan in place so these unexpected issues don’t interfere too much with your business. MSL cover pretty much everything you could need fixed up quickly including (but not limited to); brickwork, roofing, air conditioning, plumbing and security.

Security

Having a good security system in place brings with it so many benefits that it would probably end up costing you more to not have one installed. There’s a lot at stake if you don’t install a good security system – the health and safety of your stakeholders, the safety of your premises and your assets as well as your reputation and profits.

There are a lot of threats facing a company and as the saying goes prevention is better than a cure. Having CCTV and alarms in place can deter criminals from committing a crime on your property. Terrorism, burglary, vandalism, hooliganism and violence are all threats that you need to protect your staff, visitors and assets from.

Compliance Maintenance

Compliance maintenance is probably one of the most useful factors involved in facilities management just because of the sheer amount of health and safety standards facilities must adhere to. It’s incredibly hard to be up to date with every single law and regulation regarding every aspect of your facility and having an outsourced person or company to do it for you takes a massive weight off your shoulders.

Benefits of outsourcing facilities management

Reduced costs – one of the biggest advantages of outsourcing to a facilities management company is affordability. It’s not just labour that is affordable when you use a facilities management company, it’s also cost efficient with specialist equipment and cutting-edge technology.

Efficiency – your business works better when you and your employees can concentrate on your work. Appointing a facilities management company is important as you can focus on the day-to-day running of your facilities without the worry of maintenance, security and compliance law.

Knowledge – having a team of skilled and experienced professionals who know how to complete everything you need to ensure your facility is up to standard is a massive benefit to you and your stakeholders happiness and productivity.

Simple – dealing with one core facilities manager for all your facilitating needs makes your life so much simpler – leaving you more time to run your business.

MSL offer a competitively priced, comprehensive approach to facilities management including a 24/7 helpdesk, planned and reactive maintenance and a powerful suite of management reporting tools that will help you run your facility safely and effectively.